For International Museum Day on Saturday, the Tea World Musuem and Event Centre in the Gateway Mall decided to have free admission.
Owner Teresa Tuck explained that the Tea World Museum has 15 countries with their teas, pots, art and outfits.
‘You start in China on your tour and you work yourself all the way around and you end up in Canada,” Tuck said. “We also made it, you can rent it out for retirement teas, 40th
Anniversary.”
The centre of the museum has tea settings for people to choose from.
“We are very much tea lovers and we hope to bring back the tea party,” she explained.
Tuck used to run a bed and breakfast with a similar theme, but the Gateway Mall was open to hosting her museum. She officially opened on March 1.
“I’m a herbalist, so I’ve always used herbs and teas for helping people get better, (and) it just kind of went from there,” Tuck said. “My husband, when we got engaged, he gifted me withthis teapot, so that led to the collecting of teapots. We have ones that are made of crystal, we have ones that are made of very rare clay, (and) we have over 100 different teas from around the world and we have very special China.”
Tuck’s family began to armchair travel when her husband had a stroke and this led to a collection with teapots from across the world. They would don the outfits of the country and meet and have supper.
“My daughter and her husband live with us and we started randomly picking a country,” Tuck remembered. “We’d all do secret research, secret recipes, the drinks, the teas … and then we go on YouTube and pretend we were in that country. That’s how we traveled with my husband and that’s how I got all the countries, but then people started donating.”
The collection has a lot of Royal Albert tea pots, but also Wedgewood and Paragon China.
“There’s a certain generation that doesn’t really want the China because you can’t put it in the dishwasher and you can’t put in the microwave because of the gold or the silver,” Tuck explained.
“The Royal Albert, when I was shopping for my 25th anniversary, I started to notice that some people were just donating because, like I said, there’s a certain generation that doesn’t want it.”
The Museum includes a display about how Prince Albert and Royal Albert china are named after the same person.
Tuck said the Gateway Mall was very kind to open up a spot. The store is 95 per cent carbon neutral and uses 75 per cent less electricity.
She added that International Museum Day was the perfect day to get people in for free entry, though the cost is normally a $5 donation and you get the tea of the day.
“I’ve done some research,” Tuck said. “There are very few tea museums in the world and none of them are set up the way this one is. It’s kind of one-of-a-kind.”
The idea was to take what she attempted to do on her acreage and make it a year-round museum.
There are displays featuring teapots from Africa, France, Germany, Canada, the United
States, Saskatchewan, and others. The nooks have been transformed into separate display rooms. There is also a display on Alice in Wonderland because of the famous tea party and Anne of Green Gables because Lucy Maude Montgomery lived in Prince Albert.
The tea sets range in age from the 1930s to today.
“There’s still quite a few to collect, but the older ones are very difficult to find nowadays,” Tuck said.
There is also a giftshop where you can build your own gift or purchase tea, and a Hospital display which outlines teas with medicinal benefits.
The United States display features the Boston Tea Party. She said that America does not make great China but they did invent Pyrex. Another display features Occupied Japan.
They also have plans for Indigenous People’s Month in June.
“The month of June is Indigenous people’s months history, so we are going to be doing a huge display of local Indigenous teas and beading,” Tuck said.
The Tea World Museum and Event Centre is open Thursday, Saturday and Sunday from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m. For more information or to pre-book call 306-764-1820.
michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca
